European Stocks Flat After 7-week Highs

(RTTNews) - European stocks finished little changed after fluctuating between gains and losses Wednesday, as cautious investors booked profits following a run to seven-week highs.

Greek stocks surged even as markets in Germany, France and the UK turned lower in the final hour of trading.

Mid-session the minutes of the Bank of England's latest meeting showed policy makers voted 7-2 to keep interest rates at a record low, according to minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee's Nov. 5-6 meeting.

Some BoE members expressed concerns about possible inflation pressures given the extended period of monetary policy support.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan maintained its massive monetary stimulus a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for an early election and put off a proposed sales tax hike.

The Policy Board of the BoJ voted 8-1 to maintain the annual pace of increase in the monetary base at about 80 trillion yen.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks inched up 0.09 percent, and is up 2.5 percent from a week ago.

The German DAX added 0.17 percent, the French CAC 40 rose 0.09 percent, while the FTSE 100 index of the U.K. was down 0.19 percent.

In London, Intertek fell 7.8 percent. The provider of quality and safety services said its revenue for the 10-month period ended October 31 declined 5.1 percent as Sterling appreciated against all of the Group's currencies. The firm said it sees full-year margin to be broadly stable with that of 2013.

Pub operators were on the decline after the House of Commons voted in favor of an amendment to the Small Business, Enterprise & Employment Bill ending the long-standing "beer tie". The vote helps pub tenants buy beer from any supplier.

Enterprise Inns Punch Taverns dropped posted notable losses.

Royal Mail lost 8 percent after first-half profit declined and the company warned of competition from Amazon's own delivery service.

ICAP Plc said pretax profit fell 10 percent in the first half of its fiscal year. Shares plunged 10 percent.

Miners struggled, as Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were all lower.

Assicurazioni Generali is moderately higher in Milan. The insurer said it is ahead of schedule on its 2015 forecast.

Greek and Spanish banks pushed higher amid easing fears about capital requirements.